Morgan Stanley Lowers Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) Price Target to $136.00

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) had its price objective reduced by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $136.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 30.37% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Northern Trust from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Northern Trust from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com lowered Northern Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Northern Trust from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Northern Trust from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.50.

Northern Trust Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Northern Trust stock opened at $104.32 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $20.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $108.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.69. Northern Trust has a fifty-two week low of $79.30 and a fifty-two week high of $114.67.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.30. Northern Trust had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 12.77%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Northern Trust will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Northern Trust

In other Northern Trust news, COO Peter Cherecwich sold 26,132 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.36, for a total value of $2,936,191.52. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 26,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,987,202.96. This represents a 49.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jason J. Tyler sold 2,237 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.67, for a total value of $252,042.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,449 shares in the company, valued at $6,585,448.83. The trade was a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,335 shares of company stock worth $3,970,211. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 9.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,187,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,637,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542,685 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Northern Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $83,550,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Northern Trust by 201.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 963,811 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $98,791,000 after buying an additional 644,261 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Northern Trust by 60.2% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,497,484 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $153,493,000 after purchasing an additional 562,976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Northern Trust by 451.9% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 555,631 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $56,866,000 after purchasing an additional 454,956 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

About Northern Trust

Northern Trust Corporation, a financial holding company, provides wealth management, asset servicing, asset management, and banking solutions for corporations, institutions, families, and individuals worldwide. It operates in two segments, Asset Servicing and Wealth Management. The Asset Servicing segment offers asset servicing and related services, including custody, fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, investment management, investment risk and analytical services, employee benefit services, securities lending, foreign exchange, treasury management, brokerage services, transition management services, banking, and cash management services.